With the prices of Alphonso mangoes eye-wateringly high, a trader in Pune in Maharashtra is offering the king of fruits on Equated Monthly Installments or EMI.
If refrigerators and air-conditioners can be purchased on installments, why not mangoes, reasons Gaurav Sanas of Gurukripa Traders and Fruit Products.
Alphonso or `Hapus' mangoes from Devgad and Ratnagiri in the state's Konkan region, considered to be the best, are currently being sold at Rs 800 to 1300 per dozen in the retail market.
Speaking to PTI, Sanas claimed his family's outlet is the first to sell mangoes on EMI in the whole country.
"The prices are always very high at the start of the season. We thought if refrigerators, ACs and other appliances can be bought on EMI, why not mangoes? Everyone then can afford mangoes as well," he said.
The procedure for buying the fruit at his outlet on EMI is similar to buying mobile phones on instalments. The customer needs to use a credit card and the purchase amount is converted into EMIs of three, six or 12 months.
But the scheme is available for a minimum purchase of Rs 5,000, Sanas said, adding four consumers had availed of the scheme so far.
